When it comes to celebrating Christmas, some churches will share old traditions and some, like Revolution Church, will build new ones.

The 3-month-old congregation decided to celebrate Christmas this year with a program called "regift the city."

The Rev. Shad Treadaway said members of the church were given envelopes containing between $1 and $20.

People were instructed use the money by noon on Christmas Day to do an unexpected act of kindness for a stranger. They were told to pray about it and not to spend the money on themselves or their family members.

Treadaway said he is really looking forward to hearing how people shared their money.

"It was exciting," Treadaway said. "There were a lot of people that said this totally changes the way we see church and the way we even see Christmas."

Treadaway said in the future, his church hopes to continue things like "regift the city" that will help people at Christmas.

"We decided to have a missional approach because there's a lot of broken people in our city," Treadaway said. "We wanted to do something that was very service based."

For years, First Presbyterian Church has held services on Christmas Eve to celebrate the holiday.

The Rev. Shon Peppers said the church holds three services: a family service in the afternoon geared toward children, a 5 p.m. service featuring lessons and carols, and an 11 p.m. candlelight communion.

"I've been at this church for quite a while, about 22 years, and I think the 5 o'clock service is kind of a Gainesville tradition," Peppers said. "We have a lot of visitors and it's a lot of fun."

He thinks the music really distinguishes the service.

"We have a phenomenal choir," Peppers said. "The music's always just beautiful. We have some very talented musicians in our church family, and I think people like that."

Blackshear Place Baptist Church also holds two services on Christmas Eve.

"It's just a great family time and real special moment to focus on the reason for the season," said Sterling Lynn, high school and singles pastor at Blackshear Place Baptist Church. "People really do enjoy it."

He said the church holds the services on Christmas Eve and reserves Christmas Day as a time for people to be with their families.

"Everyone is kind of in their homes on Christmas day, and with family or out of town going to see family," Lynn said. "Christmas Eve is just a special time to remember. Before all the presents and before all the family meals, it really focuses the next day on what the reason for the season is."

Lynn said services around Christmas time are a way for the church to introduce itself to people in the community.

"Sometimes we'll have people that just don't go to church as often as they'd like and they're not connected to a church," Lynn said. "They'll come and check it out and usually end up really enjoying it and maybe even checking out what else we might have for them or their family."

Peppers said he appreciates the many different traditions in the community.

"Hall County is a blessed community with some wonderful congregations and there's something for everybody," Pepper said.